After a bleak and harrowing winter, aren’t we all in need of
renewal? Thankfully spring is showing signs of hope: A warm February forced
snow drop shoots up through the ground to remind us of a new season about to
bud. Then miraculously, the theater offered transformative performances to lift
us out of the doldrums.
First, Jane Staab’s life affirming production of BEAUTY AND
THE BEAST for Wheelock Family Theater offers what the well-oiled Broadway tours
do not: endless heart and a palpable exuberance that reaches across the
footlights. You can’t help but be moved by the tender relationship of Belle
(Justine Moral) and her hapless father (Bob Saoud), not to mention her ability
to see the kindness in a sorrowful beast (Jared Troilo). Laurel Conrad’s
spirited choreography and Steven Bergman’s sumptuous orchestra had a houseful
of children at my performance singing and dancing in their seats. From Chip
Phillips’ fussy grandfather clock to Brad Foster Reinking’s charming
candelabra; From Gamalia Pharms’ sunny teapot to Brittany Rofs’ spitfire French
maid… everyone, including the bad guy (Mark Linehan) generated welcome laughter
and smiles. (Playing through March 4th)
Praxis Stage’s remodel of Ntozake Shange’s [updated] FOR
COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENOUGH is a
fresh, visceral look at the revolutionary choreo-poem. I can hardly believe
forty years have gone by since I first saw Shange’s fiercely intelligent ensemble
piece. Director Dayenne C. Byron Walters and choreographer Lola Remy add music,
movement, dance and connective tissue to the vignettes, making each piece more
than just part of the whole. The searing but often witty portraits seem even
more relevant today, in light of “Me, Too” revelations. The women suffer and
rebel, resist and conquer…falter and rise. I couldn’t keep Maya Angelou’s “And
still I rise” from my thoughts as I watched these luminous performers: Karline
Desir takes your breath away in the pleasing, rapid fire scold, “Without any
assistance from you”…then she hurls you to the depths of your fears as she
recounts the events of an unspeakable tragedy. Thomika Marie Bridwell, too,
reclaims her strength in a commanding metaphorical twist on “identity” theft.
Verna Hampton magically morphs from innocent child to righteous woman. The
entire cast excells, from tiny powerhouse Ciera Sade-Wade…to Karima Williams to
Tonasia Jones and Byron Walters herself. Each “poem” empowers us, as we witness
women surviving the weight of the world. (Closed)
AMERICAN CLASSICS has the knack for inventing one-of-a-kind
musical niches, shows that are so delightful, you wonder why no one else
thought of, say, LONDON PRIDE. After all, there’s a trove of musical treasures
in the “American Songbook,” composed around the people and places of London: Irving Berlin,
the Gershwins, Lerner & Lowe, and of course, Noel Coward, all honored his
“dear, old town.” Most significantly, AMERICAN CLASSICS has the unique ability
to find the ideal singers to make a revue more than just a revue. There’s the
burnished baritone of Ben Sears and gorgeous piano arrangements of Brad Conner,
co-founders of the CLASSICS. And their guests: Tenor Davron Monroe (who often sings
with them) lifted “On the Street Where You Live” to anthem heights in the MY
FAIR LADY segment. Then Teresa Winner Blume made you feel like you had seen the
whole musical with her touching, exuberant “I Could Have Danced All Night.” But
it was Michelle Deluise who out-Hollowayed the vaudeville star as Alfred P.
Doolittle (!) performing a rousing “With a Little Bit of Luck!”…This versatile
comedienne could knead a chill into SWEENEY TODD with Sondheim’s “The Worst
Pies in London”
and she’s able to switch gears (and wring tears from my eyes) with the somber
“Streets of London” (by Ralph McTell) where children starve and desperate men
drown their troubles with drink. The ensemble took us from Berkeley Square to Neverland and back… It
must have been the pixie dust…because every song soared. (Closed)